KALAMAZOO – Even if the annual spring game at Waldo Stadium is forced indoors this Saturday and reduced to situational drills, Western Michigan University coach Bill Cubit said he is satisfied with what he’s seen over the last month.

“We go into spring wanting to look at a lot of different things,” Cubit said after Thursday’s practice. “Sometimes at a scrimmage you want to see some things on offense and on defense you want to see some things. The scrimmages aren’t a true indicator of how you play the game. You just want to see things on tape to show the kids.”

Watching film is something WMU’s defense has been doing plenty of this week after the team’s offense established a dominant running game against the defense.

Junior nose tackle Travonte Boles said he was happy to see his team’s offense progressing, but at the same time he seemed perturbed about being run over.

“You always have a little anger about that,” Boles said with a smile. “We have to play better. We have to focus and prepare.”

Boles will often be the lone man in the middle in the team’s new 3-3-5 base defense and he said it’s taken some time to adjust.

“It’s a little different,” he said. “You have to know a little more now. You have to know what the offensive line is doing. You’re the center of the defense. You have to control the gaps a lot more. You have to stay firm and you can’t get washed down.”

What can onlookers expect from that defense this Saturday?

“We have to come out and start fast and do what we do,” sophomore safety Rontavious Atkins said confidently.

The model for Saturday’s game is as follows: The first team offense and defense will start with a 14-point deficit and the game will be four quarters, 15 minutes in duration with running clock except for the final two minutes of each half. The halftime will be 10 minutes in duration.